iately strengthen or weaken in the cortex an area of the brain import... When we have experiences connections between brain cells are modifie... It is difficult to study how experiences lead to changes in the brain...The inability of brain cells to encode information from experiences in...The scientists didn't expect to find that the plasticity of the cellul...

iately strengthen or weaken in the cortex, an area of the brain important for cognitive abilities. Angelman syndrome is one among a small family of single gene, autism-related, neurodevelopmental disorders. Children with the condition appear to respond normally to stimuli during their first year, but around 12-18 months, they start missing milestones of cognitive development and language, typically learning only a 2-3 words over their lifetime.

"When we have experiences, connections between brain cells are modified so that we can learn," said Ben Philpot, Ph.D., a University of North Carolina professor in Cell and Molecular Physiology and co-senior author of the study. "By strengthening and weakening appropriate connections between brain cells, a process termed synaptic plasticity, we are able to constantly learn and adapt to an ever-changing environment."

"It is difficult to study how experiences lead to changes in the brain in models of mental retardation," said Koji Yashiro, Ph.D., a former University of North Carolina graduate student and lead author of the study. "Instead of studying a complex learning model, we studied how connections between brain cells change in visual areas of mice exposed to light or kept in darkness. This approach revealed that brain cells in normal mice can modify their connections in response to changes in visual experiences, while the brain cells in Angelman syndrome mice could not."

The inability of brain cells to encode information from experiences in the Angelman syndrome model suggested that this is the basis for the profound learning difficulties in these patients.

The scientists didn't expect to find that the plasticity of the cellular connections could be restored in visual areas of the brain after brief periods of visual deprivation.

(Date:2/10/2015)... WALTHAM, Mass., Feb. 10, 2015 Alere Inc. ... announced its financial results for the quarter ended ... Executive Officer and President of Alere said, "We ... refocussing Alere as the global leader in rapid ... closing the Alere Health divestiture in early January ...

(Date:2/5/2015)... Conn. , Jan. 26, 2015 NXT-ID, Inc. ... the "Company"), a biometric authentication company focused on the ... new corporate website ( http://www.nxt-id.com/ ) as part of ... smart wallet. The Company launched its new consumer website ... Gino Pereira , CEO of NXT-ID said, "Our new ...

(Date:2/5/2015)... , Jan. 30, 2015 It is gratifying ... power and potential for genomic science as a means ... disease prevention and treatment. I was honored to participate ... government-funded precision medicine program. Since the ... science of genomics—from the first sequenced genome of a ...

... Nationwide Children,s Hospital was awarded $11.5 million from the ... role as one of two Biospecimen Core Resources (BCR) for ... could total up to $49.2 million over six years. ... Health (NIH). The goal of the project is to perform ...

... Jan. 10, 2011 Aware, Inc. (Nasdaq: AWRE ... telecommunications and biometrics industries, today announced that on January 5, ... Jr. and John S. Stafford, III to the Aware Board ... a Class III Director and will serve on the Board,s ...

... EAST LANSING, Mich. As the rate of preterm ... U.S. births a Michigan State University epidemiologist is ... some mothers who deliver babies early are at an ... links would help researchers identify which groups of women ...

(Date:3/3/2015)... 2015 Cambridge Semantics, the leading provider ... today announced that it has been named to KMWorld’s ... Knowledge Management.’ , To create the list each ... and system integrators who identify organizations dedicated to the ... information to the right people at the right time. ...

(Date:3/3/2015)... Elsevier,s DirectCourse online curricula ... training to comply with new CMS requirements ... new crosswalk tool to help providers of ... direct service workers as a means to comply with ... CMS amended the regulations, effective March 17, ...

(Date:3/3/2015)... 2015 GlobalStemCellsGroup.com has recruited ... Alcocer, a biomedical researcher and founding partner of Criogenix ... team of biomedical professors who will teach the “Diplomat ... SA de CV is a private company registered in ... Companies in Mexico (RENIECYT). , Camacho Alcocer will teach ...

... just the expected crowd of educators is congregating at ... Conference that runs through Friday; as the technologies ... fields involved. In addition to K-12 and higher education ... and military organizations. , ,Distance Learning 2005 is addressing ...

... The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services plan to officially ... Vista within the next few weeks, according to news accounts ... ,CMS officials hope that providing the new program, known as ... records by private clinicians. , ,Vista, a software program used ...

... Ann Stunden, director of the Division of Information Technology ... 2005 award for information technology leadership from the national ... for "strong and ground-breaking leadership in the information technology ... ago." , ,A co-founder and executive director of ...